ABSTRACT
The addition products of ethylene oxide to organic compounds have found applications in the processes of producing and processing polymers as surfactants (e.g., as emulsifiers of synthetic latexes), technological additives (to improve the operational characteristics of the epoxide and composite materials, decrease in the external stresses), vulcanizate activators of rubber blends, and antistatics. The possibility of applying these compounds to intensify the wetting and increase in the adhesive and sealing compositions coated on the polymer surface in the production processes of facing polyurethane foams and paint-and-lacquer compositions is of special interest. Oxyethylated compounds are chemically inert, nontoxic, and stable at elevated temperatures and in the aggressive media, do not cause the corrosion of the equipment. The liquid aggregate state at a particular number of oxyethylated groups (n oxyethylation degree) promotes the introduction of these additives into the adhesives, melts, and oligomers. Previously, in our investigations, it was shown that the adducts of ethylene oxide and alkylphenols (oxyethylated isononylphenols) take part in the formation of the surface layer of liquid reactive oligomer systems, and composites on their basis [1-3] influence the work of adhesion of oligomers to various substrates [4] and modify the surface properties of the polymers during coating from the solutions [5]. At the same time, the mechanism that determines the character of the contacting-phase interaction in the presence of these additives is not adequately investigated. The study of the combined influence of the oxyethylene group content in the molecules of adducts and surface energy characteristics of the polymers that differ in the nature and content of the functional groups in the surface layer on the adhesive interaction of the oxyethylated compounds with the polymers, will promote the directed selection of additives that regulate the surface phenomena in polymer materials.
